Check-row corn-planter



N0. s|s,209. Patented Jan. 24, I899. N. E. scnoonovza.

CHECK ROW CORN PLANTEB.

(Application filed Aug. 2, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets'8heef 1.

a? TQM newton NodfiESq/wv/zwe Patented Jan. 24, I899.

(Application filed Aug. 2, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

2 z m M w a m e w illlx m M H 2 N \W i w ilivrrnn STATES NOAH ELISCHOONOVER, OF AKRON, IOW'A, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARVEY NOGGLE, OFNORA, SOUTH DAKOTA.

CHECK-ROW CORN-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 618,209, dated January24, 1899.

Application filed August 2,1898.

To (bZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NOAH ELI SCHOON- OVER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Akron, in the county of Plymouth and State of Iowa,have invented a new and useful Check-Row Corn-Planter, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Hy invention relates to check-row cornplanters, and has for its objectto simplify and cheapen the construction of this class of machines,while rendering them more effective in operation and less liable tobreakage or wear by ordinary usage.

lVith this object in view my invention consists in certain improvementsin the construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of suchmachines for driving and operating the dropping and marking mechanism,all as will be hereinafter fully described, and afterward specificallypointed out in the appended claims.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention mostnearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed todescribe its construction and operation, having reference to theaccompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a topplan view of my invention in position for practical operation, part ofthe tongue or pole and the hoppers being broken away. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on the planeindicated by the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrow. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the dotted line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail perspective viewillustrating one side of the sled with one of the marking-levers and itsoperative mechanism, the outside plate being broken away to expose theinterior mechanism. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional viewthrough the runner of the sled illustrated in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detailperspective view of the rotating cupped disk,

- showing the pawls for depressing the inner end of the marking-levers.Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail sectional view through the disk and sideplates of the runner, exposing the side of one of the pawls and itsspring. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of one of the markingdevers.Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a section of the outsideSerial No. 687,530. (No model.)

plate of the runner, illustrating the concentrio slot therein with oneof the marking-lever pawls projecting therethrough. Fig. 10 is a similarview of a section of the inside plate of the runner, illustrating theslot therein and one of the markinglever pawls being closed in as itpasses out of the slot. Fig. 11 is a detail sectional View of thetraction-wheel hub and its ratchet mechanism.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 11 and 12 indicate thelongitudinal beams of the top frame of the planter, said top beams beingconnected to cross-bars 13, 14, and 15. Beneath this top frame aresecured the runners 16 and 17, each of which consists of outer and innersheets of metal 18 and 19, separated by blocks 20, recessed to receivethe droppingdisk 21. This disk is provided with the usual cups 22, 23,and 24 in its periphery, to be supplied with corn from hoppers 25 and26, mounted on the frame of the machine and discharging through avertical opening 27 in each of the longitudinal beams 11 and 12. Thecorn is discharged through a space 28 between the blocks 20 and the sidesheets 18 and 19. The dropping-disk is mounted upon a shaft 29, havingits bearings in the sheets 18 and 19 of the runners 16 and 17, saidshaft carrying a ratchet-wheel 30, adapted to be rotated one-third of arevolution at each movement of a pawl 31, pivoted after the manner of apitman in a crank 32 of a shaft 33, journaled in short extensions 34 and35 of the longitudinal beams 11 and 12, said extensions being nearertogether than the beams, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Upon the shaft 33is keyed a gear-wheel 36, having an extended hub on one side providedwith an annular groove 37, in which engages the forked end 38 of ahand-lever 39, pivoted on a vertical pin 40, mounted on a fixed shaft41, secured at its ends in beams 42 and 43, which are pivotcllyconnected at 44 and 45 to the rear ends of the extensions 34 and 35. Agearwheel 46 is loosely mounted on the fixed shaft 41 and meshes with agear-wheel 47, rigidly secured upon the axle 48, which has its bearingsunder the beams 42 and 43 and carries traction-wheels 49 and 50. Thebeams 42 and 43 are further connected by cross-bars 51 and 52, and asupporting-bar 53 is secured upon the upper sides of the fixed shaft 41and the ICO beam 51, a seat 54 being mounted upon the support 53 bymeans of metal bars 55 and 56. Brake-shoes 57 and 58 are mounted on theends of a shaft 59, journaled in bearings 60 on the top of the beams 42and 43, a handlebar 61 projecting from the shaft 59 within reach of thedriver mounted on the seat 54, whereby the shaft may be rotated and thebrake-shoes applied to the wheels 49 and 50 when desired.

62 indicates the tongue, to which the team is to be harnessed and whichprojects rearwardly beyond the runners 16 and 17 at the center of themachine. At its rear end it is pivotally connected to a rod 63, which atits upper end is connected to the short arm 64 ofan elbow hand-lever 65,pivoted at its angle to the frame of the machine concentrically with acurved toothed rack 66, a spring-pawl 67, mounted on the lever 65 andoperated by a hand-lever 6S, engaging in the teeth of said rack to holdthe lever 65 in any desired adjustment.

The dropping-disk 21 is provided about midway of the space between thecups 22, 23, and 24 with elongated slots 69, 70, and 71, in which arepivotally secured pawls 72, 73, and

74, the forward ends of which are normally pressed outward by springs75, 76, and77, which press inward against the rear ends of said pawls,causing the forward ends, which are mounted in the track of curved slots78 in the plates 18, to project through said slots. The rear ends of thepawls are projected through curved slots 79 in the plates 19 at the samemoment that the forward ends of the pawls are projected through theslots 73 in the plates 18.

80 and 81 indicate brackets secured to and projecting horizontallyoutward from the plates 18, serving as supports to which are pivotallyconnected marking-arms 82 and 83 by means of pins 84 and 85. These arms80 and 81 areprovided with arms 86 and 87 at their inner ends, which arenormally and yieldingly held in the track of the pawls 72, 73, and 74,when projected through the curved slots 78 in the plates 18, by means ofsprings 88 and 89.

The construction of my invention will be readily understood from theforegoing description, and its operation may be described as follows:The position of the runners with relation to the traction-wheel framebeing properly adjusted by means of the lever 65, rack 66, andconnecting-rod 63, and the gearwheel 36 being shifted by the lever 39into engagement with the gear-wheel 46, the team is started. Therotation of the traction-wheels 49 and 50 carries the axle 48 andgear-wheel 47 with them, the rotation of the gear-wheel 47 beingcommunicated by the gear-wheel 46 to the gear-wheel 36 and shaft 33. Therotation of the shaft 33 reciprocates the pawl 31 upon the ratchet-wheel30, causing said ratchetrwheehthe shaft 29,and dropping-disks 21 to berotated one-third of a revolution, the

gearing being so graduated that this third of a rotation of thedropping-disks will take place while the machine is being moved forwardon the traction-wheels four feet, being the usual distance between hillsof corn in the row. During this motion one of the pawls,

as 72, will have its forward end projected through the slots '78 in theplate 18, as before described, by means of its spring 75. hen soprojected, the forward end of the pawl 7 2 will press downward upon thelaterally-projecting' arm of the marking-lever on that side of themachine, raising the outer end of the marking-lever some distance aboveits normal position against the force of the spring 88. When the forwardend of the pawl has nearly reached the end of the slot in the plate 18,the rear end will have reached the end of the slot 79 in the plate 19,and the continued motion of the dropping-disk will cause the pawl to befolded into the slot in the dropping-disk, thus withdrawing its forwardend from contact with the projecting arm of the marking-lever andliberating the rear end of said lever. As soon as its inner end isliberated the outer end of the marking-lever will be quickly andforcibly drawn downward by the spring 88 and caused to strike the groundat the same moment that one of the cups has dropped its corn into thehill, the result of thewhole operation being to make a mark on each sideof the machine opposite to the point where each dropping-disk hasplanted the corn to indicate where the corn shall be dropped in the nextrows.

In Fig. 11 I have shown in detail how the traction-wheels are preventedfrom turning, and the dropping and marking mechanism consequentlyprevented from working, when the machine is moved backward. The axle orshaft 48 is bored centrally, as at 90, to a point a considerabledistance inward beyond the inner end of the hub. Just Within the hub isa transverse slot 91 through the shaft intersecting the bore 90. Securedwithin the hub is a sleeve or box 92, of a size to fit the shaft,projecting beyond the inner end of the hub, the projecting portion beingformed as ratchet-teeth. A bar 93 is fitted in the slot 91, with itsouter beveled edge held normally in contact with the ratchet-teeth bymeans of a spiral spring 94, seated in the bore 90. A plug 95, seated inthe bore 90 outside of the bar 93, is provided on its inner end with apin, which enters an aperture in bar 93 and holds it from dropping-outof the slot 91. If the machine is moved backward, the ratchetteeth onthe sleeve or box 92 will slip over the edge of the bar 93, none of thedropping or marking mechanism being affected by the backward rotation ofthe wheels.

While I have illustrated and described the best means now known to mefor carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood asrestricting myself to the exact details of construction shown, but holdthat any slight Variation therefrom, such as might suggest itself to theordinary mechanic, would clearly be comprehended within the limit andscope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. The combination in a corn-planter, of a runner consisting of innerand outer metallic plates separated by blocks provided with circularrecesses, a dropping-disk provided with a plurality of seed-cups, pawlspivoted in recesses in the disk and adapted to be tilted to throw theirinner and outer ends through curved slots provided in the sideplates,braokets projecting laterally from the outside plates, amarking-lever pivoted in said brackets and provided with alaterally-projecting arm in the path of the forward end of the pawlswhen projected through the slots in the outer plate, and springs fornormally holding the arm of the marking-lever in the path of said pawls,substantially as described.

2. In a check-row corn-planter, the combination with a runner consistingof inner and outer metallic plates provided with curved slots, those ofthe outer plate being in advance of the inner plate, blocks separatingthe outer and inner plates and provided with a circular recess, adropping-disk journaled in the plates and seated in the recess in the 0blocks, said disk being provided with seedcups and intermediate slotsarranged between said cups, the slots of the disk being adapted toperiodically register with the slots in the plates during the rotationof the disk, and 35 springs adapted to normally hold the rear ends ofthe pawls inward and their forward ends outward, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination in a check-row cornplanter, with the runners, themarking-levers, 40

the dropping-disks, their pawls, the shaft upon which they are mountedand the ratchetwheel on said shaft, of the rear traction-wheel framepivoted to the runner-frame, the crankshaft mounted in the runner-frame,the 45

